Love Like This
by Scabior's-Horcrux
Summary: It's the final battle. Draco is trying to find Hermione, in hopes that he can get to her before something else does. Summary sucks. My apologies.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter nor any of the characters in this story, I only own the actual story. Everything else belongs to J.K Rowling. Read and Review please. Enjoy!

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><p>Draco was running, he didn't care who saw him. Whether it was friend or foe, he just didn't care anymore. Debris of stone was flying from the raging battle that was all around him. Tonight was the final battle, he knew it and so did everyone else. Either Voldemort or Potter was going to come out on top. But he frankly didn't give a damn anymore. Only one thing mattered.<p>

_Hermione…_

She was somewhere in the castle, she was fighting tonight too. Even though he had begged and pleaded with her to not be here tonight, there was no persuading her stubbornness. She was going to fight besides her friends.

Didn't she realize how much her life was in danger? Not only was she muggle-born, but she was Potter's best friend! Hermione might as well as painted a big target on herself for everyone to see. Draco could handle anyone else dying tonight, but he couldn't bear the thought of the idea that she may not make it to see the sunrise.

"Malfoy! Where do you think you're going?" An angry voice called from his side. Draco stopped running and he looked over to see Goyle glaring at him. "You were always a bloody coward Malfoy," His old friend hissed. "Running away or have someone else fight in your place."

"I'm not running away from anything tonight." Draco glared at him, but spoke calmly. He didn't have time for this, he needed to find Hermione so he could protect her. He would feel so much better if he just knew that she was alright and in his eye sight. "And you should be worrying about your own ass than worrying about what I'm doing." He sprinted off again before his former schoolmate could retaliate. This was no time for meaningless squabble.

Draco stood in an empty corridor that was already laced in several dead bodies, he didn't know which way to go. Which way was the right way? Was Hermione even in the castle still?

Taking in a deep breath, he closed his eyes. Finding Hermione was his first priority, but he was getting himself no where by getting all worked up. He needed to have a clear head. An idea finally formed, why hadn't he thought of it before? Just as he was drawing his wand though, he began to feel cold. As if the temperature had dropped drastically and all of the happiness in the world was really gone, that there was really no hope for anything.

_Dementors…_ A voice whispered in his head.

Draco snapped his head around to see at the end of the corridor were three large dementors floating toward him very menacingly. How they managed to get passed the Order and into the castle was a mystery indeed, but that was the least of his worries. Draco never properly used a patronus charm before, he never needed it. Being behind Voldemort for so long he never believed he would need to learn with them being on their side. But the Dark Lord was by his side right now and Dementors never cared who they attacked as long as the Dark Lord wasn't around.

They were beginning to draw nearer and nearer. This wasn't good at all.

_How the bloody hell do you make a patronus charm? _He thought angrily. _What was it that I overheard Potter say before…a happy memory can help conjure a patronus? _

It was ridiculous. How the hell could a happy memory help keep away things so evil? It must've been something else. The demenors were drawing nearer and nearer, and Draco had no other options. He couldn't just simply run. They would continue to come after him until they finally retrieved his soul from a kiss, and he wasn't going to run for someone in hopes they could rid of the monsters for him.

_A happy memory…_

Draco pointed his wand at the monsters that very much resembled the grim reaper, and closed his eyes as he allowed his mind to shift back.

_-Flashback-_

_It was Valentine's day during fifth year, and he was trying to avoid Pansy who dragged him to Hogsmeade. The girl was way to clingy for his liking. He still didn't understand himself why he continued to put up with her, she was annoying and obnoxious. Thank Merlin he managed to lose her in the bustling crowds of other students who were on their own dates or groups of single friends that tried to comfort each other on this day. So he did the smart thing and decided to get away from all of it and took one of the trails he had once walked before in his third year in the woods to clear his head. _

_It wasn't long when he heard the soft laughter just a little in the distance. It sounded like music to his ears. He walked off of the path and headed in the direction of the beautiful sound of laughter until he shortly came to a small pond that was still frozen over from winter. He heard the small scraping noise of skates running across the ice and looked to see a girl was skating in circles around the pond, just laughing as if she was having the time of her life. _

_She had dark brown hair, it was bushy, but it wasn't too bad looking. It didn't escape Draco's notice that her body seemed to be perfect in all of the right places as well. He watched her body with appreciation until she finally spun around and he recognized that face anywhere._

"_Granger?" He half-yelled, absolutely shocked that he was basically gawking at the mud-blood. _

_She skidded to an immediate halt with a gasp of surprise in the middle of the pond. "Malfoy? What are you doing here?" _

"_Trying to find some peace, but I guess no matter where I go there's always going to be something foulness to dirty the air around me." He answered. _

_Instead of snapping back with the usual insult, Granger just simply snorted and returned to her skating, placing a smile back onto her face. "Say whatever you want Malfoy, but I'm not going to let you bother me today." _

_Draco just stared at her. He really didn't have another insult to throw at her, how could she when she looked so…beautiful? The way her hair seemed to lift itself from the wind that flew past her, her smile and skin radiating from the sun that was high in the sky. He hadn't been this captured by her beauty since the Yule Ball last year. How was she able to do that?_

"_Do you want to skate?" He heard her voice call out to him which snapped him from his reverie. Draco just simply stared at her in bewilderment. "Granger, if you think I'm going to set foot onto that ice just so I can fall through, then you're obviously more of an idiot than I thought you were." He snapped. _

_She laughed. It sounded so wonderful too when she did._

"_Malfoy, the ice is very thick." She sped up her movements and leaped into the air before landing back onto the frozen surface again gracefully. "See?" She asked, motioning her hands at the smooth surface that showed no signs of giving in anytime soon below her. "You won't fall through, I promise." _

_Draco sneered. "I wouldn't want to waste my time doing something so foolish." _

"_Why Malfoy," Granger smirked in amusement and raised her eyebrow at him. "I didn't know you were afraid to skate." _

"_What did you just say to me?" He questioned. "Did I say that I was afraid? I just think it's a waste of time." _

"_Whatever you say." The brunette sighed and skated away from him. Draco couldn't help but sneer at the challenge she was obviously goading him into. It was working too. Without another thought he pulled his wand and pointed it at his own shoes as skates created themselves at the bottom of them, and he made his way onto the icy surface._

"_What a big boy you are." She clapped and spoke mockingly in a motherly-like tone as she skated in a circle around him._

"_If I were you Granger, I would just keep that mouth of yours shut before I do it for you." Draco threatened, skating in his own patterns around the pond. He was wondering why he was even doing this, skating with her. He should've just returned back to Hogsmeade the moment he realized she was here, but then that would mean returning to the clutches of Pansy. He shivered at that thought. No, being here with Granger was definitely better. _

_Instead of retaliating with a threat of her own like he expected her to do, she just sighed and skated backwards, just looking at him. "You know, any other time I think I would probably just leave or maybe say something mean back to you, but I promised myself that I was going to be happy today and nothing - not even you - will keep me down today."_

_Draco began to skate in her direction, but she still seemed to be able to skate in her own opposite direction while facing him. It was his turn to mock her. "Aw, what's wrong? Does the Weasel have a date that's not you?" When he could see the flash of hurt flash in her eyes, he knew that was exactly it. He couldn't help but feel annoyed that she even liked the moron. _

"_You could do so much better Granger." The words slipped out of his mouth before he could even stop them. His shock was mirrored on her own face. "What?" She asked in surprise and stopped skating on instinct. _

_She had stopped too soon and he had no warning of this action, so he ended up crashing into her the both fell down onto the thick layer of ice with him on top of her. Draco could hear the air leave her body as his weight was clearly too much for her and he lifted himself up enough that he wasn't crushing her, but their bodies were still touching and his face was just an inch away from hers. _

_He couldn't seem to move himself away from her any further as his eyes were trapped in her chocolate brown eyes that seemed to be able to peer into his very soul. Her breath had a mint-like scent to it as she breathed through her open mouth. Her skin was flawless. Granted that she had a few freckles here and there, but they only seemed to add to her beauty. _

"_I said…" Draco whispered. "You could do so much better." He then kissed her. _

_For a second he thought that she was going to shove him away and start cursing him since she was frozen against the kiss, until she began to respond and kissed him back. Their tongues eventually began to dance with each other in their mouths as they just laid there, kissing each other passionately as tiny snowflakes started to fall around them. _

_-End of Flashback-_

Draco opened his eyes.

"Expecto patronum!" He shouted. Suddenly a whitish blue light shot out of the tip of his wand and turned itself into the form of a hawk as it soared it's way to the dementor's. Their high pitched cries were loud as they retaliated painfully and soon flew out of sight and the patronus soon faded away.

He just looked in slight disbelief for a moment. He had actually conjured the patronus charm just by thinking of something that made him happy the most. It was Granger. No wonder whenever he had tried the charm a long time ago it didn't work, because he didn't have anything that truly made him happy to think about.

The memory he thought about, was the first day that he truly realized that he liked Granger. The way that they had kissed had felt so right, as if time stood still for only them. He had never felt anything like it before then.

It truly was his happiest memory, because that had been the day that he had finally started to have meaning to his life.

Shortly after that day, they begun to see each other every Hogsmeade weekend and would sometimes try to see each other between classes when no one else would be around. During the summer break they would write to each other a lot, and in their sixth year their relationship advanced into something physical. Secret meetings on the weekends and between classes grew into sneaking out of bed after curfew to share a few hours of making love to each other in the Room of Requirement. Draco had made that their secret place when he had just begun to discover it for himself for the mission he was given by the Dark Lord.

He had kept it from Hermione throughout the whole year. When Dumbledore finally died and he fled the school with Snape and his aunt, he feared that he had lost her forever. That she would never be able to accept him, that she wouldn't be able to love him anymore. But it was only a few months after the incident that he received a letter from her, saying that she still believed in him, that she still loved him.

So they wrote to each other for months. Once every couple of months were they able to see each other for maybe an hour or two, but they couldn't risk getting caught.

Then when she was caught by the snatchers. It was horrible. The way that the one snatcher had held her and looked at her, it made Draco want to kill him. Nobody should've been allowed to touch her or even look at her that way besides Draco. He had to hold back a smirk when his aunt threw him out of the manor in the way that she did.

But when his Aunt Bellatrix began to torture Hermione. It was unbearable. He wanted to intervene, he wanted to force the cruel woman away from her. The only reason why he didn't was because of Hermione. No matter how much she screamed, she would have the same look in her eyes that told him to stay where he was, to not stop something that was beyond his control; because she knew that they would both be killed right then and there if he revealed his feelings for her.

It ripped his heart to pieces to see her unconscious form lying beneath him. Draco was thankful when Potter and Weasley had taken her away from there.

It was a while before he received a letter from her. For weeks he had worried if she was still alive or not, since his aunt had managed to send a knife right as her and her friends apparated away with his former house elf. But she wrote him. Only to inform him that she was going back to Hogwarts with Potter and Weasley. That she was going to fight.

Draco had sent her two letters in return, begging her to stay away from there, to stay someplace safe until it was all over. She didn't respond. He knew she wouldn't. There would be no convincing her of anything once her mind was made up and she knew that they would see each other again on the battlefield, not as enemies though.

Remembering his goal then, Draco turned on the spot once he was sure that the dementor's weren't coming back and looked down at his wand. "Point me." He whispered as he casted the four-point spell. A foggy white light dripped from his wand and floated in the air in front of him, slowly guiding him to where he wanted to go, to what he wanted to find so desperately.

It took some time to get there, cautiously looking out for any enemy that would be willing to attack him on sight, but he made it.

It was the grand staircase, or what was left of it that is. Rubble and debris were everywhere and dead bodies were laying awkwardly in some places. He hoped that none of them were her as he scanned them slowly. His grey eyes finally came across a dark bushy head that was tied back into a pony-tail that wasn't in top shape anymore from all of the obstacles she must've gone through. She was alone, but it was her, his Hermione.

She was on the next landing below the one that he was currently standing on, bent over a dead body, a Gryffindor that he recognized from a few of his classes from over the years, but didn't know her enough to remember her name. Relief swept over him as he gazed at Hermione, there were a few cuts and bruises, but there seemed to be no real damage.

"Do you know how much of a pain it was to come and find you Granger?" Draco spoke in his old arrogant voice, attempting at some sort of humor with her.

Hermione turned her head to look up at him and her eyes sparked in happiness and relief. "Draco…you're alright." She smiled, standing up. "Of course I am. I'm hurt that you even doubted my safety." He snorted, resulting a laugh from her. Just as she got up from her kneeling position to walk up the steps to him, a voice broke in.

"This is what you were running to get to? A dirty mud-blood?"

Hermione froze and looked behind Draco, and he turned to the voice he clearly recognized. It was Goyle.

"I was right to have followed you, to see what you were up too." Goyle sneered. "At first I believed that you knew where Potter was and wanted to take the glory all for yourself like usual. But you were looking for her?" His former schoolmate looked at him in disgust. "You are a blood traitor Draco!"

Before Draco could say or do anything, Goyle had raised his wand, but not at Draco; behind him. The words escaped his lips and time froze as a dark colored light erupted from the man's wand and flew past him. There wasn't enough time for Draco to cast his own spell to deflect it, or even jump in front of it.

He turned to see that it had it Hermione directly in the stomach, and she collapsed onto the ground with a painful gasp.

"No!" Draco shouted, turning back to Goyle, glaring menacingly. Goyle merely laughed. Draco pointed his wand up at him and finally summoned the one curse he thought that he would never have to use. "Avada Kedavra!" Goyle never had a chance, he was dead before he had even touched the ground, to caught up in his own amusement to predict Draco's fury.

He didn't bother to watch his old companion fall though, he was already taking two steps at a time as he ran down the steps to Hermione, who had both of her hands trying to cover the large and bleeding wound. "Draco…Draco…" She whispered, tears in her eyes from the evident pain that the curse had inflicted.

"I'm here Hermione." Draco knelt down beside her, one arm gripping her from behind her shoulders and placing her lightly onto his legs while the other pressed itself onto her wound in hopes to stop the bleeding. "You're going to be okay, you here me?" His voice faltered. His eyes couldn't take themselves away from her wound, she was bleeding so much. He was already soaked in it.

"Draco…" He felt a wet palm caress his cheek and he leaned into it from habit as he managed to look from the wound and into her eyes. "I love you so much." She smiled, trying to ignore the pain that she was clearly in. "No." Draco shook his head. "Don't you start talking like that Granger, you hear me?"

He whipped his head around in hopes that he could find someone, anyone. "Help! I need help here!" He shouted. There was no response, no sign that he had been heard. Where was everyone? Someone should be here right now to save Hermione! He couldn't do it alone, he didn't know the proper spells. Draco could feel her breath hitched slightly and her arm couldn't hold itself up to hold his face anymore and it fell down to her stomach, placing itself over his hand.

She was dying.

"Please don't leave me Hermione…." Draco pleaded, tears leaking from his eyes as he stared down at her beautiful face. "Don't go."

"I'm sorry Draco…" She began.

"No!" Draco shook his head again. "Someone will come, someone will help you! Just please…stay with me."

"I've lost so much blood Draco, it's already too late." Hermione whispered and a single tear fell down the side of her face. "I'm just happy that you're here with me again…I've waited so long to see you again…to be able to look into your eyes." She inhaled a sharp breath as another wave of pain must've hit her and she gripped his hand tightly. "I love you so much Draco…please live a good life…a happy life…you need happiness."

"Then don't go." He cried. He didn't care if he sounded childish or not, this wasn't the time for pride. His Hermione was dying in his arms and there wasn't a thing he could do about it. "Stay with me."

"I'll never leave you."

"I love you Hermione….please…please…." His voice began to crack and the tears fell even harder, he couldn't stand it. It was as if his heart was trying to rip itself from his chest. The pain of losing her was too much. "Remember how we talked about having children? Living in a nice big house somewhere in the country? Do you remember?" He asked, trying to keep her mind thinking in hopes she could just hang on a little longer. "We can have that. I'll get us our own place first thing tomorrow if you want. I'll even let you choose the name for our first born son!"

Hermione smiled up at him. "If only things happened a different way Draco…" Her voice was growing weaker, her skin had lost it's beautiful glow and was now a sickly pale color. "Kiss me." She asked softly.

He didn't hesitate, he bent down and kissed her hard in desperation, but then softened it so they could both enjoy the kiss.

"Draco…I love…you…" She whispered into his lips. Then the tight grip she once had on his hand, slackened.

Draco pulled away from her slightly to look at her. Her eyes were closed and he couldn't feel her breath against his face anymore.

"Hermione…no…no…stay with me…" He began to shake her. "Hermione!"

He knew that she was gone. He had sent her away with a final kiss that she had wanted, what they both needed. The love of his life, the center of his world…was gone. It was as if someone had blown out a candle the was lit inside of him and now there was nothing but darkness.

Draco could only do the one thing he could think of. He pressed his forehead against hers, wrapped his arms around her body, and began to rock with her back and forth, not being able to do anything else beside let out a heartbroken wail as he cried.

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><p><strong>AN: I cried while writing the end. I know that while you read it you probably didn't cry, but as I was writing I had a scenario going through my head and I was actually picturing it so I cried. I'm sorry if this one-shot kind of sucked. It's 2:30 in the morning so my writing talent isn't all with me tonight, haha. Anyways, what did you think? Review please!**

**Have a wonderful day!**


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